Lampard’s Unfortunate Situation Plagued By Previous Failure

The baffling errors made by the board and previous managers still linger like a bad smell around this football club. We must put faith in one man now to inject his fresh ideas into the club and shift everything in one direction: forwards.

Matthew Parry 11/02/2022 14comments  |  Jump to last

The late omission of Vitaliy Mykolenko led to Andros Townsend occupying the left wing-back role, while the late fitness call on Dominic Calvert-Lewin meant he was an unused substitute and the boss had to deploy the same front three that had started against Brentford just three days earlier.

The early departures of Yerry Mina and Demarai Gray left him unable to make impact changes in the second half. The game then quickly faded away, as Newcastle scored a second and a third without response from Everton to steal the victory.

Even after going ahead, we never really looked like winning the game. The dynamic duo of Demarai Gray and Anthony Gordon have often dragged us out of tough moments this season and they were clearly keeping our first half alive.

When the former left the field with a hip injury and debutant Dele Alli replaced him, we became noticeably disjointed and toothless. The out-of-position Richarlison had to feed on scraps, Dele was not match-sharp, and Gordon’s energy was not backed up with any support when he was in possession.

We’ve been saying all season that a midfield two does not work with the players Everton have and this showed again on Tuesday. With deadline day signings Dele Alli and Donny Van De Beek not yet deemed ready to start and multiple injuries elsewhere, Lampard was forced to use Allan and Andre Gomes who had not only played 90 minutes three days earlier, but have also regularly proven incapable of covering sufficient ground in a two.

Perhaps there is optimism to be drawn from the fact that this may be the last time that a midfield two is forced upon us, as Dele and Donny should hopefully be that little bit sharper by the weekend. Now the question is whether Lampard trusts his defence enough to warrant taking a man out of that backline, in order to bolster the midfield and defend higher up the field.

A concerning point about Tuesday night that I picked up on was that a game of this nature seems to happen several times every single season. No matter who the manager is or what tactics we opt for, the players seem to revert to type with no cohesion between them, losing the ball every time before they can reach the final third. The result is always the same, a whitewash defeat at the hands of a team we should be competing with.

There is clear mental weakness within this squad – whether this stems from the natural confusion of eight permanent managers in 10 years or the general lack of quality of the players we have signed, it doesn’t really matter. What is clear is that the squad is deeply tainted.

As a group they have a medley of instincts formed from the teachings of consistently poor managerial appointments. Instead of singing from the same hymn sheet when we need unity, we descend into chaos. After years with this as the norm, it has left a team in constant need of rebuild and the wrong people at the helm trying to deliver it.

I actually believe one of the successes of Rafael Benitez’s reign as Everton manager was the increased pressure on the board and the subsequent re-shuffle it prompted. I think Farhad Moshiri is finally beginning to understand the reality of the situation, that he must start listening and not impulsively taking matters into his own hands. His decisions have mostly taken the club backwards since he took over.

The 14 players that featured Tuesday night on Tyneside were signed by seven different managers, a damning assessment of Everton’s recent history and the imbalance our manager must tackle. We rely on a bewildering mix of players signed with different intentions and to play in different ways, and they didn’t even suit their original purpose that well when we bought them.

The baffling errors made by the board and previous managers still linger like a bad smell around this football club and will continue to for the foreseeable future. Refreshing the entire squad is not a quick fix, but we must put faith in one man now to inject his fresh ideas into the club and shift everything back in one direction. That direction, of course, being forwards.

To rise above this lull, Lampard needs to unify his squad and drill them like no manager that has gone before him. There is no room for confusion or passing blame anymore, they must show heart and work together. He also must have a clear tactical direction and understand what players he needs to buy to achieve that.

The men who have gone before him perhaps haven’t been as clear with their vision, or have allowed the club to purchase players that didn’t align with it. From Martinez to Koeman to Silva to Benitez, each time Moshiri has sacked a manager, he has done so with the team in a gradually worse position, the failures of the previous man making the job of the next that much harder.

Frank Lampard, the least experienced of any of the men to manage Everton permanently under Moshiri, undoubtedly has the most difficult job of them all. But the one thing that the Chelsea legend has shown already is the best understanding of Everton as a football club. He clearly feels the die-hard passion, the aura around the club, what it feels like and means to represent Everton.

That stands him in very good stead with the fans and, as we have shown many times before, nothing is more important than our fans. We are capable of dragging our team out of the doldrums and breeding the confidence when it is needed more than ever, and against Leeds United on Saturday, we must do it again.

The pressure on the players is greater than ever, we must start picking up points immediately. Seventeen games remain in our season and, if we wait any longer to start finding our feet, time could run out.

Lampard has to change the alarming trend we’ve become accustomed to where the wheels come off when we’re presented with an opportunity, or when we absolutely need a win. We have to forget context in every game, hit the reset button and grind out the wins together, team and fans united.

Of course, we shouldn’t have to drive this. These players earn millions every year and are responsible for both our glee and our disappointment. We trust the owners, the management staff and the players to give us a football team that make us proud and, for way too long, they have betrayed that trust.

But to support Frank in this mammoth task we have to reciprocate his energy. He wants to turn this club around and we have to give him all the encouragement we can to help him do that.

At its best Goodison is an amphitheatre of passion and inspiration for the Blues, and intimidation for any opposition no matter how big. Just as Frank is responsible for the rebuild of the team, we have to play our part in the return of Fortress Goodison.

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